


Hidden

by Discord1



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/M, Friendship/Love, Light Angst, Post-Canon, Post-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Redeemed Ben Solo, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:53:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27716375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Discord1/pseuds/Discord1
Summary: A/N:  Posing as a couple who've lost everything to the First Order, Rey and Ben arrive on Carajam after the Emperor's defeat to hide themselves away and heal the scars within.  Post TROS, with one obvious tweak.  Light on angsty redemption (by Reylo standards), heavy on the come-hither stares.
Relationships: Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	1. The Otherworld Calls

**Author's Note:**

> Although I've been writing for a loooong time, I've yet to break into the Star Wars universe. Constructive feedback, suggestions, and fact-checking welcome!

Rey was wrenched back from the darkness by a warmth at her waist. Feeling returned to her limbs, and she brought a weak hand to the warmth, finding it was a palm splayed across her stomach.

Disbelief crowded out all else, and Ben's dark eyes met hers with shock so full of hope it banished the vestige numbness from her frame.

"Ben?" She breathed, gazing at a face familiar and foreign at the same time. Sitting up, she let fingers travel through the air, hovering near his cheek. His hand was behind her neck, supporting her, and unfiltered relief made him so real – so whole – it was like she'd gone back in time to glimpse the man caged away long ago.

Searching this new face – so different from the one she'd first seen when he'd removed his helmet and tried assaulting her mind – Rey surged forward. Ben rushed to meet her, parting his mouth as she claimed it, connecting in Exegol's shadowed tomb in trembling celebration.

They had done it. They had defeated the Emperor. Together.

Ben's hand slid down her back, pulling her closer, and she felt its strength and shake as he kissed her. The pressure was full of triumph – she had brought him from the Dark, and he had saved her from the Otherworld. His lips were warm on hers, gentle and unyielding at the same time.

Rey wanted to savor the kiss, to live forever in a single moment, but the urge to memorize him – to make Ben's soft joy eclipse the rage of Kylo Ren – had her pulling away quickly. She roamed his features, proving to herself they were real. A smile of wonderment grew in her as he stared back, flitting over the lines of her nose and jaw with the same hint of awe. It was like he'd never seen her before, drinking in her visage for the first time.

He matched her smile with one wide enough to show teeth, and Rey's heart leapt. Its soar plummeted an instant later as his mouth's upturn slipped, and his eyes fluttered closed. Ben grew heavy in her arms, and she bent to catch him as he fell, resting his head on stone.

Horror doused all else as she gaped down, uncomprehending. He began to fade before her eyes, and Rey immediately grabbed his shoulders, calling to him through their bond.

_Ben!_ She cried. _Don't go! Stay with me._

Nothingness answered, and she clung tighter, even as she felt him give way in her grasp.

_I need you_ , her mind pleaded. _Stay, Ben. Please!_

From the murky swells of despair threatening to swallow her whole, their current stronger and more raging than the just-won fight with Palpatine, a voice responded, sounding far away.

_You did it Rey, you saved me._

Tears crowded and spilled down her cheeks, dripping salty wet into her mouth. _So, stay for me_ , she urged. _I don't want to be alone._

_Let me go Rey.  
_

_No!  
_

_I won't really be gone—.  
_

_NO!_ She screamed inwardly, not wanting empty Jedi mantras. They'd bring no comfort when she left this nightmarish hellscape. Concentrating on his fading ebb in the force, she visualized herself hauling him back to her plane. _I won't let you!_

The voice didn't answer, but the shoulders she gripped lost their translucent haze, returning to reality in tangible layers that grew solid.

Rey blazed with hope, using her power to yank the last of him back from the brink in a desperate seize. She watched him, and caught movement beneath closed eyelids.

"B-Ben?" His name was more tremulous this time, laden with an anguish she fought not to be consumed by.

He opened his eyes, weary and worn. "You're not alone," he murmured. "I'm here."

And then she was hugging him, and sobbing, and the dark confines around them blurred as everything else ceased to matter.

* * *

His whispered words were the only ones he'd spoken. They had been found quickly, Rey calling out through the force to Poe and the Resistance while she'd helped Ben rise to a sit. Whisked away from the Emperor's demolished throne in a rush of supporting arms – pilots hefting Ben to a staggered stumble exchanging wary looks – they'd been brought aboard a medical frigate and treated immediately.

As soon as she'd emerged from her bacta tank, she'd been summoned to a hastily assembled tribunal. Rey had convinced them to place Ben in her custody for rehabilitation, citing he wasn't fit yet to stand for his crimes. Her account of his actions in Palpatine's temple had less impact than the fact it was the face of hope and hero of the Resistance asking for leniency. She had won the tribunal's acceptance only by a slim margin, vowing her oversight would be strict, vigilant to any signs of his return to the dark side. Grumbled mutters floated up into the air even as the verdict was decided, and she knew her petition would be readily overturned by dissenters if she didn't make Ben disappear for awhile.

Two days later, with the galaxy celebrating all around them, Rey sat on the corner of his bed, trying desperately to coax him into conversation. Armed guards were posted outside the door – just a precaution, the tribunal assured – and she was glad its reinforced durasteel muffled most noise. No need to have an audience while she talked at, rather than to, Snoke's former apprentice.

The man looked almost catatonic, except for his eyes – they followed her every movement, focusing on an errant hair she swept behind her ears, or the hanging thread of her sash as she idly fidgeted with its end.

The only other responses she could elicit were physical ones. If she slipped her palm into his and squeezed, his fingers would reflexively curl around hers. When she'd brush a hand along his cheek, a line of clenched teeth would appear in his jaw.

"I don't know what to do," she mumbled, staring out the large window of his recovery room. They were near the planet Takodana, Maz Kanata's home-world, surrounded by the remaining ships not yet departed that had followed them to Exegol. "Why won't you talk?"

She felt his gaze bore into the back of her head and turned from the window, meeting it with a lift of her chin. "I don't care if you're mad at me for bringing you back," she asserted. "You made a promise."

Ben exhaled heavily, looking away.

"So, it's to be scoffs and glares then?" Rey felt irritation rise. She shot it at him through their bond. Palpatine had stolen much of their energy for his revival, but it was already replenishing itself, and their connection seemed stronger than ever. "Kylo Ren explodes into frenzied property damage, and Ben Solo simmers in unvoiced hostility?"

Ben closed himself off, tamping down his feelings from her. The dismissal stung, and Rey stared into her lap, groping to remember how their moment of closeness had felt. So much had happened in so short a time. The galaxy's greatest threat had been vanquished by a nobody – the Emperor's claims of her ancestry didn't change that status. She had died, Ben had died, and she had fought on his behalf to prevent him being strung out and eviscerated for Kylo Ren's atrocities. Somewhere in all that, they'd been gifted a glimpse unto themselves, a glimmer of happiness no one else could impede upon, but it had slipped away in the harsh glare of aftermath and consequences. Confusion, regret, and sorrow swirled through her, and she made no attempt to hide them from their connection.

Ben's next sigh was soft. "I can't be here Rey," the statement was a thin, resigned thread in the air. "I don't deserve it."

At that, her eyes snapped up. The momentousness of his speech was swallowed in the defeat it bore. "I don't care," she countered. "You _are_ here, and _I_ deserve it."

He turned back to her, surprise edging out the morose stupor in his countenance. "I can't live only for you," he supplied evenly, watching her with an intensity so like Kylo Ren's.

Rey frowned. "We'll see about that."


	2. Running Away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Big thanks to Antholin for helping me flesh out these first two chapters. Closest he'll ever come to being a beta =P. He's not too interested in fanfiction, but he took the plunge for his beloved Star Wars (and under duress. His wife's boundless enthusiasm is only exceeded by her determined badgering.) Love you, Grumpus!

No amount of protest swayed Rey's resolve. Poe, Finn, and Chewbacca's angered incredulity only fueled it more. She surmised they would be among the first to oppose the tribunal's ruling. Bidding goodbye to her friends, the only family she'd ever known, she boarded a ship named the Guardian with Ben in tow, bound for a remote planet in the Outer Rim. The joy sweeping the galaxy in a profusion of fireworks, banners, and festivals was suffocating, a choking reminder of all she didn't have. There was no home to return to and decorate, no bustling neighborhood to spread smiles and hugs through, no sense of peace to rejoice in.

Rey traipsed into the cockpit, releasing Ben's elbow and depositing him in the copilot's chair with an unceremonious heave. He slumped down, hunching his tall frame into an exaggerated stoop as he vacantly surveyed the cramped space. She took her own seat, checking the fuel gauge and inputting coordinates for Carajam, a planet the holovids had told her was almost as removed as Ahch-To's island. It was imperative they not be found until Rey had formulated a beskar-plated defense. She wasn't about to lose Ben to imprisonment or execution after she'd saved his damn soul.

"Where are you taking us?" He asked, scrutinizing the numbers she put into the computer.

"Somewhere we can hide away and regroup," she mumbled absently, preoccupied with launch preparations. "I-I can't be around others right now. They… don't understand," she wasn't technically lying. Although their departure was more for his sake, all the merriment around her was stifling – a testament to her losses and depressing reminder her role in the saga was complete.

Rey felt him nod.

"Now you see," Ben's voice was hard – like it'd been before he raced into the ancient temple – and her fingers stuttered over the console.

"No one understands," he continued, before enfolding himself in the desert shawl she had flung over his shoulders.

Rey bit her lip, holding in the frown that wanted to drag down her mouth. "You least of all," she ground out.

He fell silent as she engaged the ship's thrusters, deftly lifting them off the Takodana launch pad. His eyes stayed on her as she rose the freighter into the atmosphere, and she worked to ignore the impressions he sent her.

She looked small and tired in his eyes; a slip of a girl bound in Jakku attire. She had donned her old outfit in preparation for their destination, one starkly similar to her birthplace. Rey shook her head to banish his thoughts, trying to focus on her flight path, but Ben pushed them in, forcing her to see.

She was made up of knots of hope and worry, sinew pulled too tight for too long, muscles strained in being everything for everyone. A battered little thing, cast out of her empty, sand-filled prison into a galactic war, a pawn to all she met. It wasn't only Palpatine that had tried using her – Skywalker, Han Solo, the Resistance. They all wanted a piece of her, wanted her power collared and ensnared.

Rey closed her eyes, ejecting him from her mind with a mental shove. "No," she gasped. "Stop it, Ben."

He ceased manipulating their bond, drawing the hood of his shawl up until only his prominent nose could be seen in his profile. She propelled them into hyper drive, and their surroundings became blinding, blue light.

The journey was one of terse silence and mental shields. Rey wrestled with disappointment so vast she'd cry if she were prone to tears. But such weakness was reserved for despondency in the chasms of Exegol or the lonely hut on Ahch-To – she wouldn't break down in front of the man who was now more a stranger than ever. Again at least. Was it Kylo Ren, clawing his way back to supremacy, that viewed her as such a brittle being? Or worse, Ben himself, who saw all she'd struggled to become still just poorly masked the Nobody underneath?

\--

Carajam was a desert planet, unremarkable and unknown, one more port of call for those wishing to vanish. Rey shut down the engines, scanning the landing bay warily. A few locals puttered around, carrying nondescript bins or doublechecking data pads – none spared the ship more than a passing glance. Satisfied the Guardian's doctored records had sufficiently made them unworthy of interest, she stood, rearranging the smattering of tools and pouches tied at her waist.

"Come on," she ordered, crossing the cockpit in three strides. Ben made no move to follow, and she halted, palming the archway. A desire to snap something harsh and scathing rose, but she uttered only a 'please' with an embarrassing amount of tremble.

If he noticed the vulnerability in her tone, he gave no indication except to rise smoothly.

He followed her into the belly of the ship, taking the bulging bag she thrust into his arms with a blink. Rey ticked through an inner inventory as she darted into cabins, making sure they had enough supplies should anything happen to their transport. Grabbing a backup communicator – she'd stowed one in each of their packs – she headed for the exit. Ben trudged behind, a mute, mobile automaton. Outwardly, he may have seemed alive and semi-present, hair tousled from his thrown-back hood, jaw tightly-set in a slight frown, towering build no less imposing even obscured in a poncho, but she knew he was dozens of parsecs away.

Suppressing new annoyance, Rey pushed a button, opening the access hatch and lowering the loading ramp. She was about to step onto it when a hand shot out and grabbed her tunic's straps, collaring her back.

_Wait_ , Ben cautioned silently. _There's someone who's attention we don't want aimed our way._

Rey retreated fast, bumping into him as she searched wildly.

_Don't use your eyes_ , Ben chided, a note of exasperation in his thoughts. _Find them with the Force._

His grip was uncompromising, keeping her in place, and she felt suddenly like a child, admonished for running in front of a speeder. "I didn't bring us here for you to be my new teacher," she hissed, craning her neck forward as she hunted.

_No, I'm to be saved_ , the tone in her head was dry. _Again._

Rey huffed and closed her eyes, reaching out with the glowing spring of power coiled in her chest. She felt Ben's energy weave into her own as he inspected it, roving through her in a caress that jarred in its intimacy.

"Stop that," she snapped aloud, losing concentration. "Kylo Ren is the one who takes without asking."

_He's still part of me_ , Ben whispered in her head. _Just as I was entombed in him._

From the corner of her eye, she spotted the individual he'd felt, a familiar hexagon displayed proudly on a scaled arm. "How can he flaunt First Order sigils now?" She muttered. 

_I sense his importance is self-inflated_ , he said. _You could easily turn his awareness elsewhere. His mind is more than malleable enough._

Rey cast her intentions out with a jut of her chin, barely needing to concentrate. The Order sympathizer opened a large snout in an excited wallop, swiveling on a clawed heel, and trundling off to be the first to see the rare bloom a visiting naturalist was rumored to be showing. Botany had _always_ been his favorite thing after all…. Yes, yes… absolutely… desert be damned. He just _had_ to see this flower….

Ben's pride dropped like an impromptu embrace, and its amusement made something curdle in her stomach. 

"I don't want Kylo Ren's approval," Rey pushed him back with her shoulder-blades, surprised at the venom surging up in her.

He swept the curtain he'd parted for her shut, but not before she heard the last trailing words of his mind.

_It was… mine_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Please consider leaving a review. It only takes a moment. Updates always come faster when I know there are readers waiting :).


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